Sorted and Spells
by ANBUShizuka
Summary: Annie Leonhardt, a second-year in Slytherin, knows very well why she was put in that house. But she finds herself oddly intrigued by Mikasa Ackerman, a first-year with an aptitude for advanced spells. Things change as they stay up and learn and talk.


Annie Leonhardt was perfectly aware of why she was placed in Slytherin. Her tongue was as sharp, if not sharper, than her mind. She was self-aware in a way that most second years weren't. It was this awareness, however, that led to a strange fascination with one of the first years.

Mikasa Ackerman was ambitious in a way that Annie found daunting. She wanted to be better, grow stronger; she wanted to _accel_ in all things to simply make it so that her brother- a Gryffindor in all ways, including ridiculously _stupid_ courage- would remain unharmed and happy.

It happened one night that Annie found it especially hard to sleep. Something was nagging at her. She rolled over to see Raze, her Great Horned Owl, perched on the bedpost closest to the door and hooting. "What is it?" Getting up from bed, the blonde girl grabbed her wand and began to sneak down the corridor to the common room. Raze followed, waddling along instead of flying and creating noise with his wings. Upon noticing the development, Annie smirked and whispered to her compatriot, "You waddle worse than Professor Reiss." At that, Raze took off, flying into the common room and letting out a screech; startled, Mikasa misfired her spell and shattered a nearby vase. Annie rushed in, examining the damage and taking note that Mikasa was unharmed before glaring at her pet. "Oh, you _silly_ creature! It was a _joke_!" She sighed when Raze still refused to leave his perch near the ceiling. "Your waddle isn't _nearly_ as bad as Professor Reiss. You look much more dignified than a short, fat man who I'm certain is part dwarf."

Raze finally acknowledged the humans when he heard one snort. Upon further inspection, he saw it was the dark-haired one and not his Annie. Giving a hoot, he waited. After a second, Mikasa asked, "Uhm, which one is Professor Reiss? Is he the one who teaches Charms?"

The second-year nodded and glanced down as she noticed a cat come up beside Mikasa. It was similar in coloration to what Annie knew as a Russian blue but the eyes were different. "What kind of cat is that?"

"Oh," Mikasa said as she glanced at her pet, "Vigil is a Chartreux. Beautiful, isn't he?" After a moment, she blinked and glanced wearily at the shattered vase. "I'm terribly sorry about that. I can fix it." Pointing her wand, the first-year murmured, "_Reparo_." Instantly, the pieces of the vase jumped back together in their proper places, leaving it as it was before. Vigil meowed quietly, moving forward to circle Annie a time or two. "Vigil, stop that. There's no need to examine her."

The blonde girl shook her head and muttered, "It's fine." She knelt, reaching down to pet the other girl's cat. After a moment, Annie said, "You had better get to sleep. You don't want to fall asleep during your classes, do you?"

Mikasa blinked. "Don't you fall asleep during classes? I heard one of the Gryffindor boys talking about you. He said you fall asleep every day during your classes."

Annie deadpanned. "Was it Reiner?" She sighed. "What an idiot. Anyway, listen, I'm not the prime example of what anyone should do during classes. I pass everything but it's just so I can take it easy." Just as she turned and began to walk away, the first-year caught the blonde by the sleeve of her shirt. "What is it?"

"I…I saw you use some of those jinxes the other day. On that tall Ravenclaw boy. And I saw you use them on Eren too." Her grey eyes grew hard for a moment before she glanced at the floor, suddenly finding it very interesting. "How about you teach me? I want to be able to help Eren."

The blue-eyed girl took into consideration all the possible outcomes of this. On one hand, teaching Mikasa could be entertaining. The girl was eager to learn and seemed absolutely dedicated. However, if they suffered a falling out of some kind, Mikasa could potentially use the jinxes on Annie herself. "Fine," Annie replied, "but if you start to annoy me, I'm gonna call it quits. And I don't want you thinking we're gonna be all buddy-buddy. That's what your brother and his best friend are for." Then, whistling for Raze, Annie turned back towards the girls' dormitories and went to bed.

[X]

Mikasa coughed again, hacking the contents of her stomach into a bucket. After she settled back on her bed, Annie murmured, "_Evanesco_." Then, the only sound to break the silence was their breathing and the sound of Vigil purring as he curled up against Mikasa's thigh. "Sorry about that. Didn't think I'd hit you that hard."

"What was that spell?"

"_Levicorpus_. I didn't think it would throw your balance off that badly though. You've hurled quite a few times."

The Asian girl sighed. "I think I'm done now. I'm just tired." She paused. "And somewhat hungry."

Annie wrinkled her nose and grimaced. "How can you possibly be hungry after all that?"

Mikasa looked at the fourth-year in mild confusion and said, "I just tossed up all that I've had to eat today. My stomach is now empty and for some reason, I really want a chocolate frog." She murmured, "Thank you though. For helping me for the past few years."

"Well, after that incident when Eren cut your cheek, I didn't think you'd want to practice your charms with him anymore." Annie glanced at the scar, examining it carefully. It was a lightly pink line just under the third-year's right eye. It did not distract, however, from the overall paleness and smooth complexion of her junior. Silently, the older girl reached out and touched the scar, gently running the pad of her thumb over it. "How long has it been now?"

"About a year." Mikasa reached up and caught Annie's hand, looking at her curiously. "I heard that Bertholdt asked you to the ball next week."

Annie laughed. "_That_ was a formality. He's actually going to go with Reiner. But Mina made him ask just to try and get me to go." She smirked. "Why? Are you jealous, Ackerman?"

The younger female blushed profusely, her cheeks growing hot. "No." She turned away and released Annie's hand. "I was just curious, that's all. I've never seen you be approached by people. Not really."

They sat in silence again before Vigil yawned, stretched, and hopped off the bed in search of good hunting. After watching him depart, Annie turned her attention back to the third-year and asked, "Are you planning on going?"

Mikasa snorted derisively. "If Eren has anything to say on the matter: yes."

"If you don't want to go, don't," Annie retorted. She sighed quietly and shook her head. "Don't you get it? He's your brother, yes. He's a good friend to you, _yes._ But you don't have to do whatever he does." She stood and began to leave, whistling for Raze to follow. She heard a murmur and turned back to face Mikasa. 

"I'll let you know tomorrow, all right?"

"Yeah. Tomorrow." Annie began to shut the door and muttered, "Sleep well."

[X]

The day after, as promised, Mikasa sat down beside Annie at supper and said, "I'm not gonna go. Eren is throwing an absolute fit but Armin managed to convince him it's ok." She smiled. "Do you want to practice jinxes again?"

Annie grinned. "We'll have a duel. See who can best who."

They toasted each other, sharing a smile and an excited, "You're on."

The week finished out with little excitement, save for hearing about who was asking who to the ball. It was of little interest to Mikasa as, on Saturday night, she sat in the common room with her knees pulled up to her chest, watching the fire as it curled and sparked. Annie had yet to show up and Mikasa was beginning to worry that the fourth-year had forgotten their plan. She startled when Raze landed at her feet, hooting softly. "Sorry about that. I got a Howler from my dad. Lasted a good twenty minutes."

Mikasa blanched. "What could you dad have possibly been so angry about to last twenty minutes?"

Annie blinked and laughed. "Oh, God, no, sorry! My dad was excited because he got a couple tickets to the Titan Shift concert during summer holiday. Wouldn't stop screaming about it because he knew how badly I wanted to go."

"That's awesome," Mikasa replied with a relieved smile. She stood and took her scarf from around her neck, tying it like a sash at her hips. "All right, you ready?"

"Yeah, let's go." They squared off against each other, wands ready. "Better not cry when I win, Mikasa."

"In your dreams, Annie." She snapped into action as soon as Annie brought her wand down, shouting, "_Stupefy_!"

Annie countered, "_Protego_!"

They went back and forth for a bit before Mikasa used the _Levicorpus _spell on Annie and walked up to her, grinning. "Wanna take a break for a bit? Sasha snuck some of the good pastries from the kitchen." For a moment, Annie remained silent and Mikasa began to worry she had somehow jolted Annie too badly with the spell. She leaned in and began to ask, "Are you-" She was cut off as the fourth year reached out and pulled her into a kiss. Mikasa didn't try to break away but it felt odd, at first. Instead, she reached up and cradled the top of Annie's head while the blonde girl gently ran her fingers into the back of Mikasa's hair. When they stopped to breathe, Mikasa murmured, "I was not expecting that for my first kiss."

The blue-eyed fourth-year laughed breathlessly. "Neither was I. Let me down now?" When Mikasa said the counterspell, Annie dropped right on top of the taller girl. They laid there in their pajamas, laughing at one another. "So. About those pastries."

"Right, right, c'mon," Mikasa urged. She shifted and helped Annie to her feet, guiding her to the couch and grabbing a nearby box. She opened it, holding it so that the blonde could choose her snack. "Sasha goes and grabs stuff from the kitchens a lot. It's rather funny, actually. She and Connie have never been caught."

Annie shook her head. "Somehow that doesn't surprise me." She ate the muffin slowly, watching the flames and glancing at Raze. "Wanna see something funny?"

"Sure." Mikasa watched as her companion reached over to the owl and softly started scratching his chest. His feathers fluffed for a second or two before settling. Annie grinned, glanced at Mikasa once and then went back to scratching a little higher, eventually making her way to just under his beak. Raze's feathers all stood on end and he hooted, staying puffed up for several moments as the two witches giggled. Vigil hopped up into Mikasa's lap and meowed at the owl. Shortly after, Raze shook himself, making his feathers lay flat again before nipping Annie's finger affectionately and flying off. "Do you do that often?"

"Raze enjoys a good scratch. It helps him relax and we've done that ever since he was very young." Annie paused and smiled softly. "He's been one of my closest companions ever since I got here." She leaned her head against Mikasa's shoulder. "He was a little jealous of you, in the beginning, I think."

"Why?" Mikasa gingerly rested her cheek atop Annie's head and reached out to lace their fingers together. "Although…I think it would be more important to figure out what we are now."

"I suppose we don't really have to decide yet. But if you really want to, I think we're going to need to do something first."

Mikasa's eyes narrowed slightly at the seriousness in her companion's voice. "What is it?"

Annie grinned and looked up at Mikasa. "You're gonna have to kiss me more. Or else I won't know what we are to each other just yet."

A soft laugh erupted in Mikasa's chest and she leaned in and kissed Annie gently, keeping it very simple and sweet. She whispered, "How about a date to Hogsmeade village tomorrow? Butterbeers on me."

They kissed again and Annie replied, "Sure." She giggled, "But if you tell anyone that we giggled, I will adamantly deny it."

She received another peck on the lips. Mikasa smirked. "I will never say any such thing."

[X]

Mikasa hurried into the shop, shaking off the snow. She smiled brightly, seeing everyone at a table in the corner. "Sorry, everybody. Got caught in the middle of a snowball fight out there." She plopped into a chair beside Annie and grabbed her hand, hailing the waitress for a butterbeer. "So. How did everyone's exams go?"

"Brilliantly," Mina announced. She said, "I got an Outstanding score on my potions exam."

Annie stated, "I impressed them with my Defense Against the Dark Arts. They want me to consider training to become an Auror." She smirked at Mikasa. "What do you think?"

"What I think doesn't matter," Mikasa replied simply. She poked her girlfriend's side, making her jump. "Not like it would matter to you. You'd do whatever you wanted anyway."

"Damn right I would," Annie retorted. She squeezed Mikasa's hand regardless, smiling as the pressure was returned. "Reiner and Bertholdt refuse to talk about theirs. And Eren is…."

"Running late," Armin sighed softly. "He got into another fight with Professor Levi…and had to serve detention."

Annie laughed while her girlfriend let out a long-suffering sigh. After a while longer, with no sign of Eren, the group got up and began to go their separate ways. Annie and Mikasa both walked back towards the school, hands clutched together in Annie's hoodie pocket. "You know, I don't want to be an Auror."

"You don't?" Mikasa blinked. "Why not?"

"Too much work."

"Logically."

They both stared at the snow while they walked. After a minute, Annie asked, "I graduate this year."

"Yes. Yes, I know."

"Do you-"

"Yes."

"I didn't even ask-"

Mikasa halted on the bridge, pulling Annie to a stop as well. She waited for her girlfriend to turn so that they faced one another. "You don't have to. I…I want to stay together, Annie. I think we can do that."

"You have that much faith in me?" Annie's lips quirked into a crooked grin.

"No, I have that much faith in your dislike of every other person in the world." Mikasa grinned as the outrage in her girlfriend's face grew more apparent. She bent, catching the girl in a kiss, pressing their lips together firmly. "I love you, Annie. And I think we can do this."

"Good. Because I do too." Annie breathed softly, taking in the warmth from Mikasa's close proximity. "I love you too, Mikasa. And I'm glad we started practicing spells together."

[X]


End file.
